Withered Roses (薔薇のとげThe Thorns of the Rose in Japan) is an upcoming 3D Hack and Slash game coming to the Wii U in Q3 2017, as a reboot of the original Crimson el Roserade series. The game, like past iterations of the series, follows Crimson, a Roserade warrior, and Frozerade, a Roserade ice mage, during a war in the forests between Lord Garchomp's Dragon Army, and Lord Tyranitar's Earth Army, where they must prevent the destruction of Eterna Forest by fighting both sides.

In a Sonic Adventure-like style, each of the five playable characters have a different gameplay style, in order to distinguish themselves and their character. For example, while one character takes on the basic Hack & Slash formula, another may involve Assassin's Creed-esque gameplay, involving sneaking past enemies and assassinating them, and incredibly precise platforming.

Contents

STORY

The game starts in the ruins of what appears to be an old temple, where a Garchomp is attacking a Haxorus, while two henchmen (a Dragonite and a Flygon) watch, clearly showing amusement at Garchomp's power. The Garchomp yells at the Haxorus to join the Dragon's Army or else he'll make sure he regrets it, but the Haxorus refuses, yelling that his loyalty remains with someone named Lord Tyranitar. The Garchomp, angered by this, attacks and kills the Haxorus. When the Dragonite mentions to the Garchomp that he may be taking the war too far, the Garchomp simply replies that he needs to anything to conquer the Dragon's Kingdom. The screen then fades to black.

GAMEPLAY

The game is a rather fast-paced 3D Hack and Slash game, viewed from a camera angle similar to games like Pikmin 3. Here, while controlling one of five characters in the Overworld (Eterna Forest), the player can walk around in the Overworld and interact with NPCs and whatnot. You can also use small attacks to destroy objects around you, revealing Rose Coins (which are the game's currency) and even different helpful items. However, similarly to Sonic Adventure DX', each character has a different play style and level goal, which are detailed below.

In Crimson's levels, things get much more frantic. In battles, the player can not only use basic Melee attacks, but can also use attacks called Combos, which are well timed attacks that combine different skills to powerfully hit opponents. Each Combo has a different input control-wise. However, there's a catch to using these; not only do Combos have limited uses, but they cannot be used twice in a row; in order to use it again, another, different known combo must be used. This function was included to allow players to be able to use all of the Combos and know how to use them in battle. Combos are also limited in total uses, using the PP function from the mainstream Pokémon games—thankfully, PP can be healed in a few ways, like going to a Spirit Fountain or using an item. These combos can hit multiple enemies to the point of even knocking away all surrounding enemies, which, like in most Hack N Slash games, have weak attacks but attack in large hordes.

Combos

Frozerade's levels are very similar in gameplay and style to Crimson's; using Combos to take out hordes of enemies, and being able to use healing items. However, there's a twist to her levels; there is limited time to defeat all of the enemies. If the enemies aren't defeated within the limit, either the area is destroyed or an important character gets injured or even killed, meaning running out of time is not an option. Otherwise, she plays exactly the same as Crimson's levels.

Combos

CHARACTERS

PLAYABLE

There are five playable characters in the game, with two being available to play in the beginning, and three unlockable by playing the game. Each of these players play differently, and some have to be used at specific parts of the game.

Crimson is the warrior and protector of Eterna Forest, and he normally would be guarding the forest from unwanted attention; however, after the War of Two Dragons starts to threaten not only the forest, but the entire region and it's population, Crimson needs to travel to Dragon's Grotto to end the war between Tyranitar and Garchomp. Crimson usually uses his blade in combat, though he also knows various Grass-type moves to deal heavy damage.

Hack & Slash

Available from the start.

Frozerade is Crimson's lover, a Roserade who has gained the usage of powerful Ice-type moves through her childhood and raising. While she usually protects the forest with Crimson, she joins him on his quest to stop the War of Two Dragons before it destroys Sinnoh completely. Frozerade specializes in using Ice-type attacks in battle, like Ice Beam and Frost Breath, which can potentially freeze enemies.

Time Hack&Slash

Available from the start.

ANTAGONISTS

NPCS

Picture

Description

Smartass the Patrat is, as the name entails, a giant smartass. He doesn't hesitate to show that off, too. Smartass' purpose is mainly to give out "helpful" advice and gameplay tips for those players who are stuck in the game. He doesn't really act very nice about it, though.

TBA

Scarlet is the Shopkeeper of the game, a young Roselia colored scarlet who lives in Eterna Forest. She's a relatively kind person who makes fair deals, but can be a bit stingy with selling. She sells helpful healing and boosting items to help in different levels.

LOCATIONS

Locations in the game are named after locations in the Sinnoh region in the mainstream Pokémon games, like Eterna Forest and Old Chateau. These areas are very different from their mainstream counterparts, however.

LEVELS

ENEMIES

The enemies, like in most Hack and Slash games, attack in hordes and usually use weak attacks, but many attackers at a time can be deadly. The attackers are all also Pokémon.

BOSSES

The bosses have powerful attacks that can be hard to dodge, and can also summon enemies to wear the player down.